Chapter 970 - Subst.i.tute Plus Skywing Withdrawal Order
"All of you, scram! This Celestial Stalwart Spine is mine!" The dark-skinned, middle-aged fatty swept his gaze across the surroundings as he viciously spoke these words.
These people were those who lived at the impoverished border; who would try to eke out a living here when they could live in the flouris.h.i.+ng Law Realm? Naturally, the words of the dark-skinned fatty had the more cowardly border people backing away at once, and that grandfather-granddaughter pair, who owned the ultimate-grade Celestial Stalwart Spine, began to tremble.
The border people could not afford to offend any of the merchants they traded with. These merchants of minor clans in the Law Realm were not that formidable, but in the eyes of the border people, they were all impressive characters. Without them, they would have no means of selling off their goods and would lose their path to prosperity.
These merchants were also rather repulsive. They were docile and obedient in the Law Realm, not even daring to breathe too hard, but at the border people swap meet, they would often flaunt their power. Besides ordinary training, they frequently abused the people. The locals naturally had their complaints, but they were helpless against the power of the opposing side and could only endure it all.
The dark-skinned fatty suddenly raised his eyebrows, noticing that Xia Fei had remained unperturbed at his furious stare. He was clearly of a different sort.
"Old sir, how much are you selling this Celestial Stalwart Spine for?" asked Xia Fei genially, treating the middle-aged merchant like air.
The two did not dare to speak. They shot looks at Xia Fei, indicating that he should quickly leave so that he could avoid getting caught up in this mess.
*Zing~*
The dark-skinned, middle-aged merchant got furious, believing that Xia Fei was humiliating him. The twenty guards behind him rolled up their sleeves, preparing to attack.
After all, Xia Fei had made his disguise very inconspicuous, and he lacked the intense energy pulses a warrior usually had. Those unaware of the situation took him for an ordinary person. Not even in their dreams would these people imagine that this was the mighty lone wolf of the Skywing Clan!
"Kid!" growled the merchant, reaching out to grab Xia Fei with his right hand.
*Plus.h.!.+*
However, to everyone"s surprise and without a word from Xia Fei, he cut the middle-aged fatty in half!
Not only did Xia Fei take the life of the merchant, he even killed the guards behind him!
This was the efficiency of a high-speed warrior! In the blink of an eye, he could carpet the ground in corpses and water the land in rivers of blood!
Xia Fei had never been a saint. Whenever he encountered something that displeased him, he just resorted to one solution: kill!
...
*Whoosh~*
The Gemini went on its way, this time carrying a white Celestial Stalwart Spine and the grandfather-granddaughter pair from the border region.
Xia Fei had already returned to normal by now. Killing a few mice was not anything big for him, but the border pair had been given a rather bad scare and was still trembling even now. Perhaps both thought that they would receive the same brutal death as the dark-skinned merchant.
"Why did you bring them with you?" asked Radix with a frown. After all, this pair had no strength to speak of and would only be a burden to Xia Fei.
Xia Fei lightly replied, "Possessing wealth that one shouldn"t have is also a sort of crime. In that situation, leaving them behind would be a death sentence. There were too many eyes with greedy looks trained on them in the surroundings earlier. Also, I"m afraid that they"d take the blame for my killings."
"So how do you plan to handle them?"
Xia Fei replied, "It"s very simple. I"ll just find a remote town to leave the two and also give them enough money so they could live in hiding for several lifetimes. While I can"t completely ensure their safety, I"d at least have done all I can."
Radix nodded, approving of Xia Fei"s plan.
While Xia Fei did not care for the lives of strangers, he had always handled everyone he interacted with very fairly, be it Chen Dong or Moon Song back at Heaven Execution Training Camp or Charlie and the others who opened Quantum Holdings with him.
Xia Fei found a small town to put the two down; after which, he gave them a spatial ring filed with several tens of thousands of low-grade crystals.
This was the last of such crystals Xia Fei had. At his current level of wealth, he did not need these things. Peak Rainbow Ring was so big that these piled-up crystals hardly drew much attention, so they had been left molding in a corner up until this time.
In a place like this, high-grade crystals were too conspicuous, and using these lower-grade crystals was more convenient. As for the spatial ring, this was meant to hide the wealth. Xia Fei understood more than most how important it was to conceal one"s riches.
To have not just avoided being killed but to have also received so much from Xia Fei had the grandfather-granddaughter pair departing with words of grat.i.tude freely flowing from their lips. They had not expected to sell the Celestial Stalwart Spine for some astronomical price. After all, that was the border region, where the prices of goods were extremely low. Xia Fei"s proposed price was already a pleasant surprise for both, enough to sustain them for several lifetimes.
"To get an ultimate-grade Celestial Stalwart Spine at such a low price was truly a great harvest. While you still have time, I"ll help you tame this divine cactus," Radix said.
With his memories recovered, Radix exuded the aura of a master. His every move now brimmed with much confidence.
In the Precious Brilliance s.p.a.ce, Radix pointed at the white cactus, which stood taller than Xia Fei, and said, "Celestial Stalwart Spine is covered with thorns, just as its name indicates. Anyone who attacks it will be injured by these short thorns. Those with low cultivation may even lose their lives, while those with high cultivation will still end up heavily injured.
"Most mystifying of all is that the Celestial Stalwart Spine"s backlash gets stronger with the attack. If an enemy uses fifty percent of their power to attack, they may be heavily injured, but if they use one hundred percent, their corpse will probably be painting the landscape.
"Before using the Celestial Stalwart Spine, you must go through a series of complicated preparations so that you can extract the essence of this divine plant to create an identical subst.i.tute. This subst.i.tute can only be used once, and it will be broken after this one use. While it"s a rather high price, it"s really worthwhile.
"After all, heavily injuring an enemy using a subst.i.tute—not even using your own energy and just simply watching from the sidelines—is quite amusing.
"There are several ways of creating a subst.i.tute from the Celestial Stalwart Spine. I will tell you the most difficult yet the most effective method. You just need to follow my instructions to ensure success, but you can"t go and start getting unconventional by throwing in elements that you"re unable to control."
Radix spoke in a very relaxed tone as if it were normal for him to make subst.i.tutes from Celestial Stalwart Spines. This was completely different from the cautious Radix of the past.
...
Two hours later, the two-meter-tall Celestial Stalwart Spine had disappeared, and now in Xia Fei"s hand was an unremarkable white item.
It was glossy as if it were made from mutton fat jade. It was truly impossible to tell that this should be a block of wood.
Weighing it in his hand, Xia Fei found it to be as light as a feather. It was in the form of a human and had sharp and angled corners. It was rather similar to Xia Fei"s unruly and frenzied nature.
"After that refinement process of yours, that two-meter-tall Celestial Stalwart Spine has become this small." Xia Fei pouted.
Radix raised an eyebrow and sternly said, "Whether it"s useful or not depends on the function. Why does the size matter? A tree"s roots are very big, but can you make a subst.i.tute out of it? The Celestial Stalwart Spine requires only this little bit to work. This is the purified body left after removing all the impurities, the strongest part.
"Just keep laughing. This Celestial Stalwart Spine was pretty good, and you got 25% more out of it than I expected. I estimate that it can heavily injure a Superior Law G.o.d."
Xia Fei was stunned. This little human figure in his hand was able to wound a Superior Law G.o.d heavily! This was just absurd!
Xia Fei, who had fought with a Great Law G.o.d before, knew just how powerful one was!
He had put his life on the line and just barely managed to kill New Moon. Now, the essence of this Celestial Stalwart Spine could heavily injure a Great Law G.o.d. How could Xia Fei not be shocked?!
"While the Celestial Stalwart Spine can only be used once, in a desperate struggle against an expert, this one use can save your life and can decide life and death! This is the only life-saving treasure you have besides the Tree of Life, so take good care of it," Radix seriously said.
...
Xia Fei"s journey had been very smooth. Not even mentioning the two Immemorial Mystical Armaments he had obtained, he also unexpectedly obtained a life-saving treasure, the Celestial Stalwart Spine!
However, a nervous tension ran through the Skywing Clan"s Fiend Wing Villa in Xia City. All the Skywing Clan members were like taut bows, the power built up and ready to be unleashed.
A night when the moon was dark with the wind howling was a perfect time to kill.
People silently departed in Xia City, leaving this independent, little place that the Skywing Clan had lived for countless years.
The Skywings were a legendary clan of the Law Realm, the Law of Speed"s inheritors, with countless war G.o.ds serving them. No matter how this universe had changed before, the banner of the Skywing wolfpack had never fallen. This was all because of their sharpness and the madness that no one else could match!
No matter how powerful their opponent was, no matter how crazily their opponent attacked their home, the Skywings had never lost! These madmen of the Law Realm had not lost their home for even one second!
However, today, the Demon-sealing Fiendish Blade had availed itself of this dark night to withdraw its people voluntarily. In the past, this would have been unthinkable!
The first to leave were the old, the young, the women, and the infirmed. Upon receiving the order, even the youngest child of the Skywing Clan said nothing, silently obeying the orders of the clan.
It was true that the Skywings were the most carefree clan, the one least bound by the rules. Every member of it, other than the warriors, could do what they wanted. The clan had many talented artists and bold adventurers. In the past, many other warriors had envied this lifestyle. Many of them could not understand how this clan of pleasure-seekers could be so powerful in combat!
However, if others were fortunate enough to see tonight"s sight, they would know the secret of the Skywing Clan"s power.
Being carefree and relaxed was only the personality of the Skywings when they were not at war. When it was time to get serious, their formidable ability to a.s.semble and execute orders would reveal itself!
Normally, the Skywing Clan loved life, but in war, it became a pack of wolves—a pack of determined and bloodthirsty wolves!
"Tomorrow, Xia City will be a lot quieter," Xia Buyun sternly said as he stood atop a mountain and watched their people leave.
Next to him was Xia Laos.h.i.+, the person that Xia Buyun least wanted to see. After all, he owed the man an immense sum that he could not clear no matter what.
Today, though, the two of them stood side by side like brothers. With the issue of the retreat order, all of their quarrels had dissipated like smoke in the air.
"That"s not for certain." Xia Laos.h.i.+ smiled and shook his head as he spoke profoundly.. "When the sun rises tomorrow, Xia City may be rather cold and deserted, but the Law Realm, and perhaps the entire universe, will become a whole lot livelier."